ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The USD 480 school board took care of some much needed business in its final meeting of the 2024-25 school year Monday evening.
Starting off the meeting was the recognition of April’s Educator of the Month, Kathy Croy, who is set to retire from USD 480 after 39 years.
“Mrs. Croy’s legacy is nothing short of extraordinary. Earlier this month, she was also named the Liberal High School Distinguished Educator, a fitting recognition for someone who has dedicated her entire career to empowering students and supporting her colleagues with such excellence,” LHS Assistant Principal Brandi Fowler said. “Kathy really embodies our LHS core values. She’s a champion for all by taking staff under her wing, loving her students fiercely, and setting high expectations for every learner who comes through her classroom. She expects excellence, never letting students settle for less, and pushes them to achieve more than they thought possible. She is a merchant of hope, encouraging both students and colleagues through challenges, always unwavering in her belief in their potential, and she carries the banner with unmatched Redskin Pride, modeling what it truly means to serve our school and community with heart, strength and professionalism. Her colleagues describe her as a trusted leader and relentless advocate for students, and they say she has given more time, heart and dedication to LHS than anyone they can think of. Whether she’s encouraging a struggling student, mentoring a new teacher, or simply brightening someone’s day with her warm spirit, Mrs. Croy has left her mark that will not be easily forgotten. Mrs. Croy is, and always will be, a true Redskin, and it’s only fitting how, before she retires, we celebrate the incredible impact she’s had on generations of students, staff and the entire Liberal community.”
“It’s somewhat bittersweet to be here at the end, but I want to thank all the USD 480 board members for all their support and dedication throughout the years,” Croy said. “There’s even a few people at this meeting I had as students at LHS, and I’m so glad and honored to see how everyone has grown. I especially have to thank Alan [Brown], he’s been around all of my 39 years with the district, so thanks so much again for all the support. Once a Redskin, always a Redskin, thank you all so much.”
The board then made quick work of the new business on the agenda, beginning with approving the English Language Arts professional development for Seymour Rogers Middle School and Eisenhower Middle School in the amount of $15,790 and then approving the First Makerspace curriculum to be used at Meadowlark Elementary School. The board also approved the HMH curriculum in the amount of $300,681.47 for the ELA classrooms at LHS and the purchase of Social Studies curriculum in the amount of $130,200 from HMH also to be used at LHS. All approvals were by a margin of 6-0, with board member Jesus Baeza absent.
Concluding the discussion of curriculum, the board also approved the purchase of CKLA and Caminos curriculum (which includes textbooks, access to online digital resources, teacher resources, and professional development for teachers) for K-1 at Prairie View Elementary School for $98,756.40, and approved the use of OPEN PE curriculum. These approvals were also by a margin of 6-0, with Baeza absent.
The board then revisited discussion of non-resident enrollment caps, with Assistant Superintendent Ruben Cano leading the discussion.
“Last year, Kansas passed a law requiring every district to set aside a number of open seats for non-resident students who reside in Kansas. This does not include anyone from Oklahoma, this is just for Kansas,” Cano said. “The law requires, every May, for a recommendation to be made to school boards to set enrollment caps for the following school year. How this will work is, if this gets approved, we will post the application June 1 for non-resident students and their parents, and we’ll also post the number of seats available at each grade level. We will accept applications from June 1 through June 30, and then we have from July 1 through July 15 to have a confidential lottery to approve applications. That lottery is only needed in instances where we have more applications than available number of seats. We looked at each building and broke them down by grade level, and then we took the number of teachers for each grade level, and then we looked at a few other factors to determine what the caps would be, such as the number of certified teachers, etc.”
“Once these students are selected, do they have the chance to be enrolled in USD 480 every year?” board member Alan Brown asked.
“Yes, they are. They won’t count when we come up with the subsequent caps since they’re already in our system,” Cano said. “As soon as a student is approved, they don’t have to apply again unless they become a student not in good standing. We also can’t deny a student based on religion, race, ethnicity, free/reduced standing, or any of that. The only ways we can deny a student are if the student had poor attendance the previous school year, were suspended three or more times, or were expelled or currently serving an expulsion for the following school year.”
After some more brief discussion, the board ultimately approved the presented caps as follows: Kindergarten – five students; 1st grade – five students; 2nd grade – three students; 3rd grade – five students; 4th grade – five students; 5th grade – five students; 6th grade – eight students; 7th grade – eight students; 8th grade – six students; 9th grade – 10 students; 10th grade – 10 students; 11th grade – 10; and 12 grade – 10 students. The approval came by a margin of 6-0, with Baeza absent
To conclude the meeting’s new business, the board also approved 12 teachers from Eisenhower Middle School and Seymour Rogers Middle School to attend AVID professional development during the summer and also heard information about replacing cameras at Prairie View Elementary School.
